NIIGATA – Police in Niigata
Prefecture said Tuesday they have arrested 11 men, including a gangster, in
connection with thefts of ¥1.8 billion ($17.3 million) from cash machines
across Japan on a single day in mid-May.

The nationwide heist occurred in
about two hours on May 15, involving about 1,400 convenience store automated
teller machines in 17 prefectures, including Tokyo.

Junya Tanaka, 35, a senior member
of a group affiliated with the Yamaguchi-gumi, Japan’s largest organized crime
syndicate, and 10 other suspects aged between 23 and 49 are suspected of
stealing a total of ¥11.4 million using fake credit cards from ATMs at 11
convenience stores in the Sea of Japan coastal prefecture on that day.

Some of the 11 suspects have
admitted to the allegations, according to the police.

The police tracked down the
suspects after examining security camera videos, in which they were using
generic white cards to withdrawal cash from ATMs. The police said the fake
cards contained data from South Africa’s Standard Bank.

A total of ¥88 millionin cash has
been confirmed stolen from around 70 convenience stores in Niigata in the
massive thefts.